Ham, green beans and potatoes

Since mother's day, I have been posting recipes supplied by my mother and collecting family recipes from others in order to share them here so we all can enjoy them. While talking to friends, I realized how many recipes were lost because it was a pinch of this and a dash of that and nobody took the time to write a base to start from. My brother, through a comment made to his wife, reinforced the fact that our mother did the same thing just by the virtue that she never made something the same way twice. Hubby gets frustrated because I don't either, but at least I come by it honestly. In an effort to save frustration and, more recently, to save old favorites, this blog was started. This paragraph has now come full circle and we can get on to the recipe - ham, green beans and potatoes. Similar to the Chicken pot pie recipe (http://tryandlike.blogspot.com/2011/03/chicken-pot-pie.html), this is just a guide. Purchase enough ham, potatoes and canned green beans for the number of people you want to feed. You can use home canned beans if you have them. Cut the ham into cubes and put in a slow cooker. Cut the potatoes into cubes and add to the slow cooker (you may peel them, if you must.) Open the beans and pour over everything in the slow cooker. Cook on low for several hours, until the potatoes are soft. Salt is not necessary, it will come from the ham and beans. Mom would sometimes use canned potatoes or, if she was inside to monitor the stove, use a dutch oven on top of the stove instead of a slow cooker. Other options? Cubed turnips, sliced cabbage, a little caraway seed. Play with it, or just use

the old stand by.

Chicken Salad

I learned a version of this recipe at the beach last year.  'Version' as we made it a couple of times, different both times and no measuring.  This time, I made it at home and I measured it so I could have a definite list of what is needed.  Will I ever follow this exactly again?  Probably not.  For example, next time I will probably also stir in 1/2 cup of diced granny smith apple.  Serves 6.

  1 Lb Chicken Breast                                                                1/2 Cup Mayo

  1/2 Cup Seedless Red Grapes                                                  2 Tbl Mustard

  1/4 Cup Slivered Almonds                                                      

Cook chicken, cut into chunks and cool completely.  Cut grapes into quarters and add to chicken along with the almonds.  Stir  together mayo and mustard, add to chicken.

Per Serving: 195 Cal (46% from Fat, 37% from Protein, 17% from Carb); 18 g Protein; 10 g Tot Fat; 1 g Sat Fat; 3 g Mono Fat; 8  g Carb; 1 g Fiber; 4 g Sugar; 26 mg Calcium; 1 mg Iron; 178 mg Sodium

Caribbean Chopped Chicken

I wanted to make Caribbean burgers, but I didn't want a lot of filler to hold the patties together, so I went with just chopped sandwich filling. Think sloppy joe with no sauce. This worked quite well on a bun or on a salad. 1 lb ground chicken 1 cup diced pineapple 1/2 cup diced pepper 1 1/2 tbl diced pepper Put all ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Heat a cast iron or non stick skillet and cook the mixture until cooked completely, stirring often.

Easy Penuche Icing - Kathleen Ronk

This recipe has a fudge like consistency and has a nice caramel flavor.  It goes well on the fudge cake posted yesterday.

  1/2 Cup Butter                                                                         1 3/4 Cup Confectioners Sugar,

  1 Cup Brown Sugar                                                                 -Sifted

  1/4 Cup Milk                                                                          

Melt butter in sauce pan, stir in brown sugar.  Boil and stir over low heat for 2 minutes.  Stir in milk.  Bring to a boil, stirring  constantly.  Cool to luke warm.  Gradually add confectioner sugar.  Beat until thick enough to spread.

From Wikipedia, "Penuche (Italian: panucci) is a fudge-like candy made from brown sugar, butter, and milk,^[1] using no flavorings except for vanilla. Penuche often has a tannish color, and is lighter than regular fudge.^[2] It is formed by the caramelization of brown sugar, thus its flavor is said to be reminiscent of caramel. Nuts, especially pecans, are often added to penuche for texture, especially in the making of penuche candies.^[1] It is primarily a regional food, found in New England and some places in the Southern United States, though in the latter it goes by different names, usually "brown sugar fudge candy". 

Origins

Penuche is also used as a boiled icing flavor. Once very popular in Hawaii, its name was localized as panocha or panuche. Panocha is said to come from the Spanish word for raw sugar (but also Spanish slang for "vulva").^[3] Hawaiian cooks often reminisce about both panocha fudge and icing. As an icing, it was common as topping for prune cake.^[4] Other names for penuche include "noochie" and creamy praline fudge."

Fudge Cake - Kathleen Ronk

This makes a very nice cake.  The ingredients are just as I copied them from Mom's recipe, but I used the following specifics.  Salted butter, Large egg, Unsweetened chocolate, Cake flour and 1% milk.  All purpose flour can be used, it just won't raise as much.  A higher fat content milk will provide a slightly moister cake.  Chop the chocolate before putting it in the double boiler to soften - it will go faster.

I used a 9 x 13 cake pan that was greased and floured.

  1/2 Cup Butter                                                                3/4 Cup Milk

  1 Cup Sugar                                                                    1/4 Tsp Salt

  1 Egg                                                                              2 Tsp Baking Powder

  2 Squares Chocolate                                                       1 Tsp Vanilla

  2 Cup Flour                                                                   

Mix and cream butter until very light, add sugar gradually.  Add egg.  Soften chocolate over hot water and add.  When mixture is perfectly smooth.  Add sifted dry ingredients alternately with milk and vanilla, beating until smooth after each addition.  Bake at 350 degrees for 40 to 45 minutes.

Week 23 - 54.19

Almost a record week this week - and no half marathon.  This week takes me to Richland Center, Wisconsin.  Thanks to a Dike project that helps protect the city from flooding, there is a significant recreation trail.  From the Richland Center website, "The recreational / bike trail follows the old railroad bed along the Pine River from Gotham to Richland Center and terminates at the North end of the City at Krouskop Park by progress on the river dike.  Through the winter months, parts of the trail are used by snowmobiles.  It gives access to the restored Railroad Depot at the corner of Seminary Street and Orange Street (US Hwy 14).  It also allows passage through an arboretum and the future restored Savannah prairies at the site of the old mill dam.  The dam, removed to allow a free flowing river, now is the site of riffles where anglers fish and canoeists can continue their down river journey."

Historical Novel

For the summer reading program, I had to pick a historical novel.  I'll admit, not my favorite category, so I picked it first to get it out of the way.  I found "To Dance With Kings" by Rosalind Laker.  I started it and I was hooked.  I read this book in 4 days.  Set in France, starting ins 1664, it covers 5 generations of women as they weave their way through fan making, business starting and the nobility of France - mainly Versailles.  An overview of the Bourbon Kings and their nobility, beginning with the view of a woman who has her house overrun by uninvited guests.  While she gives birth.  One of those visitors starts a path of destiny that puts her young daughter to a path of greatness.  The 'promise' made by the young nobleman, paired with the instruction in the family business provided by her mother, gives young Marguerite an excellent path that leads to self sufficiency.  An ugly twist of fate takes away her first love and leads to the next generation of fan makers and the fates that await her.  Find this book, enjoy this book.  You will be glad you did and, if your reading lists asks for you to read a book recommended by a friend, you now have a recommendation.